P1 Chinese - General Discussion
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Perhaps I can share with you my personal experience. My son went to PCF kindergarten. Throughout his k1 and k2, there was absolutely no chinese spelling. There was very little writing too. I actually had no idea what was taught in class as there were not many worksheets done. So when my son went to P1, the no. of chinese characters that he could recognised was very limited. The school started the first term with HYPY. My son found it interesting as it was something new and fresh to him. He had absolutely no problem in this area. However, my nightmare began when term 2 started with chinese characters. He was so dependant on HYPY that he could not read a complete passage without the help of HYPY. He was totally handicapped. He told me he could only read two characters during his oral reading in SA1. He must have failed his oral badly. I decided to help him by focusing on word recognition and matching of words through flashcards. After he was able to recognise the words, I made him write 5 words a day, with each word written three times. I would repeat the words until he could read and remember before giving new words. My son dreaded it. I had to coax him into writing. Through our consistent efforts, it paid off as he managed to get from band 2 for SA1 to a near perfect score in SA2. He was overwhelmed. Now he believes that writing is an important part of learning and it has become his daily habit. I am also thankful that he has a good mother tongue teacher who helps to keep his interest in learning.
I am not sure if this method will work on your child but for the sake of those desparate mums, it is no harm trying. -
I totally agree with rocklee. Though my son attended enrichment classes since K1. He is just not the academic type so his english and chinese reading skills are ltd at end K2. I’ve also been busy with my P1 girl then to be able to spend time to coach him.
There was some things we did in Q4 last yr to prepare him for P1. Sending him for intensive hypy classes as well as 1-1 advanced phonics. This helped.
But more importantly, starting from this yr, I made it my new yr resolution to spend time with him coaching him every evening. We would spend around 2 hours every weekday where they will do their homework, learn spelling, read, etc… For chinese I was really worried as though his hypy is good but his character recognition sucks… how is he able to read if he can’t recognise??? The good thing was his enrichment class is always at least 1 lesson ahead of school so we made use of this opp to expose him to the words more often. Also, I made him practise writing the words before giving him tingxie. His Molin teacher also paid more attn to him as I highlighted to her his weakness of not being able to focus,etc…
We are very happy as it all paid off as he scored Band 1 for all subjects in his recent SA1. I am happy because english was also a problem for him and my aim was I should bring him to a level that he don’t get invited for lsp. After 5 months, he now developed a habit for reading too every nite.
It made me realise that just sending them for enrichment classes alone is not good enuf, if there are consistent support at home to help them (eg. revision) as well, then they will benefit alot more. But of course, there are alot more sacrifices on our part eg. no watching TV or doing your ow stuff when you reach home. No going out shopping,etc… after work as we need to reach home by 8pm,etc… -
Have to admit that the problem is me.
I tried to do chinese homework with him but most of time, I do not know the answers and don't know how to write the chinese characters too.
I love to teach him maths and english but was bored to death when i have do chinese with him. Pretty sure that he can feels it, so I can't really blame him for the lack of interest.
Instead of boring him at home, I think it is better to send him to an enrichment class. -
My son’s chinese textbook has a list of words on the last page that serves as a guide. On the right hand side is the list of "shi du zi" (learn to read words) and on the left is "shi xie zi" (learn to write words). To me, it is a list of "must know how to read words" and "must know how to write words". I think if the child can learn how to read and write these basic words at the end of the term, he should be quite ready for exams.
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I’ve seen so many of my friends, colleagues kids having problem in their chinese. Thus I made the decision to get my kid speaks Chinese at home since young but read english books.
I figured he will learn how to speak english fluently eventually when he go school later.
It pays out well.
The moment he can speak and converse well in Chinese, he does not lose interest in this subject. Plus his strength in English (words and alphabet) actually helped a lot in HYPY! Over the past 6 mths in P1, he actually picks up Chinese character fast too.
I’m glad I’ve made the right choice years ago. -
Any good enrichment for K2 boy who absolutely shun CL if he can. Am considering Tian Xia - anyone has any comment for this sch?
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ikanbilly:
Any good enrichment for K2 boy who absolutely shun CL if he can. Am considering Tian Xia - anyone has any comment for this sch?
ikanbilly,
you are looking at the wrong thread.
you can find a lot more information http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416&start=0. -
Hi Moms,
Try getting some simple chinese stories book that has HYPY. From reading it will strengthen their HYPY at the same time they will also remember some chinese characters.
Need not to get books of their age, start from simple maybe 5 yr olds or 6yr old. Slowly upgrade to 7yr old. If you start with 7yr old books, too much words will frighten them and soon they will lost the interest to go on.
Get books that they like, maybe with cute animated characters.
Dont stress them to read, encourage and joke with them so they will be happy learning chinese.
Language is one of the tough and boring subject to learn and master. Either you know or give up.
Try the above method.
Smile. -
I have the same challenge to get my K2 girl interested in Chinese...cos she speaks mandarin like Ang Mo...
Got some interaactive CD from A-star which are fun for learning.. you might want to consider... they have a whole range from K1 to primary school as well...
http://www.a-star.com.sg/ -
curiousl-ks:
Dear Curious-KS,I have the same challenge to get my K2 girl interested in Chinese...cos she speaks mandarin like Ang Mo...
Got some interaactive CD from A-star which are fun for learning.. you might want to consider... they have a whole range from K1 to primary school as well...
http://www.a-star.com.sg/
Thank you.
My son now can read on his own with HYPY and even got him a teacher here to guide him along. He is now in P1, so not time to let him learn alone. Initial stage like K1, K2 is the only time he starts to pick up his Mandarin and Chinese's character. Now he can even write a 2 full pages of composition on his own. All thanks to his chinese tutor.
Now I am encouraging him to read more so that he will knows what is happening around him. He is also learning what is the things he knows in english but not in Mandarin. In the past, he didnt know what is a lizard in mandarin, pihu. He thought pigu= butt. someone said that pihu=lizard will drops its tail. He asked me, mom why pigu will drop its tail when I have no tail? I laughed out.
Thanks for the advise. Reading is really good for kids.
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